News & Events

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jessica Jones (760) 655-3998 downoad a .pdfSan Diego County Taxpayers Association Honors Poseidon Water and San Diego County Water Authority for Collaborative Effort to Create New Drought-Proof Water Supply Carlsbad, CA (June 17, 2016) – The Carlsbad Desalination Project was recognized for “stretching taxpayer dollars through cooperation between the public and private sectors” by the San Diego County Taxpayers Association at the organization’s 21st Annual Golden Watchdog & Fleece Awards last night at the Sheraton San Diego Hotel & Marina. Poseidon Water and the San Diego County Water Authority received the Grand Golden Watchdog for the project and the unique collaboration that made it possible.

​FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jessica Jones (760) 655-3998 downoad a pdfGlobal Water Award announced in the United Arab EmiratesCarlsbad, CA – The Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant has been honored with a Global Water Award as the Desalination Plant of the Year for 2016 by Global Water Intelligence, publisher of periodicals for the international water industry. The award, announced this week at the Global Water Summit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, goes to “the desalination plant, commissioned during 2015, that represents the most impressive technical or ecologically sustainable achievement in the industry.”

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Jessica Jones (760) 655-3998 download a pdfHonor Bestowed by Engineering News Record Salutes the Industry’s Most Influential People

San Diego, CA – Today, Poseidon announced that their Senior Vice President of Project Development for California has been named one of Engineering News Record’s (ENR) ‘Top 25 Newsmakers.’ Every year, ENR salutes influencers in construction by naming the Top 25 Newsmakers who have been the most influential in their respective roles. MacLaggan was recognized for his tenacity and patience in pushing for the successful construction of the largest seawater desalination plant in the Western hemisphere in Carlsbad, California.

By Joel Kotkin​“What do we do with this worthless area, the region of savages and wild beasts, of shifting sands and whirlwinds of dust, of cactus and prairie dogs? To what use could we ever hope to put these great deserts and these endless mountain ranges?”– U.S. Secretary of State Daniel Webster, on the American West, 1852

The drought, if somewhat ameliorated by a passably wet winter in Northern California, reminds us that aridity defines the West. Our vulnerability is particularly marked here in Southern California, where the local rivers and springs could barely support a few hundred thousand residents, as opposed to the 20 million or so who live here. Bay Area, we’re talking about you, too, since about two-thirds of your drinking water is imported.

San Diego County residents may not need to save as much water as they saved at this time last year. “We’re easing our drought restrictions,” said Vallecitos Water District spokesman Chris Robbins. “We’re going to be able to let them use more water than we have.” Robbins said the State of California previously asked Vallecitos customers to conserve 24% of their water. “Because of the connection to the desal plant over in Carlsbad,” explained Robbins, “We’ve been reduced to 16%.” The Carlsbad Desalination Plant went online in November. Robbins said the 50 million gallons of clean drinking water every day has paid off for San Diego County. “It got most of the agencies an 8% reduction,” he said.

State-mandated water restrictions in San Diego County will be eased soon from 20 percent to 13 percent on average, thanks to the new desalination plant in Carlsbad, officials announced Thursday. The San Diego County Water Authority said state regulators have certified the supply of potable water from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant as drought-resilient. The plant, which opened in December, is the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant and produces about 50 million gallons per day of high-quality, drought-proof water.

Carlsbad, Ca., March 10, 2016 - State regulators have certified the supply of potable water from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant as drought-resilient, reducing the regional impacts of emergency water-use mandates the state imposed in June 2015. Certification by the State Water Resources Control Board lowers the regional aggregate water conservation goal from 20 percent to about 13 percent, though water-use targets will continue to vary by local water agency. On Feb. 2, the State Board extended mandatory conservation measures for water agencies statewide through October and said it would reconsider the regulations after assessing reservoir levels as well as snowpack and regional water supply conditions in April. The State Board also approved supply credits toward meeting conservation targets for agencies that have developed local, drought-resilient supplies since 2013.

State-mandated water restrictions in San Diego County will be eased soon from 20 percent to 13 percent on average, thanks to the new desalination plant in Carlsbad, officials announced Thursday. The San Diego County Water Authority said state regulators have certified the supply of potable water from the Claude “Bud” Lewis Carlsbad Desalination Plant as drought-resilient.The plant, which opened in December, is the nation’s largest seawater desalination plant and produces about 50 million gallons per day of high-quality, drought-proof water.

Jennifer Jones held out a plastic cup of water to a visitor. The water was crystal clear and tasted fresh and pure, as if it had been poured from a bottle of spring water. There was nothing to suggest that as recently as one hour earlier, that water had been pulled from the ocean by powerful pumps.Jones, a spokeswoman for Poseidon Water, was taking a reporter on a tour of the new seawater desalination plant on the Carlsbad coast, which officially went online Dec. 23 after a 15-year planning, permitting, design and construction process. The $800 million plant is expected to provide between 7 and 10 percent of San Diego County's drinking water for at least the next 30 years.

Congratulations to San Diego for finally completing your 50 million-gallon-per-day Carlsbad desalination plant, scheduled for opening Dec. 14. When project developer Poseidon and the San Diego County Water Authority started this journey 18 years ago, Australia had no major seawater desalination plants.